The MBA Student Voice

Second Year

Second year has a very different rhythm from first. This time a year ago I remember looking at a list of deliverables due in the next three weeks and having no idea how I'd survive until winter break. This year the list is daunting, but definitely survivable.

It isn't exactly that the second year is "easier" than first. (Though it probably is, insofar as I no longer have to contort my brain into accounting-speak.) Second year is equally busy; the difference is that you chose everything piled on your plate. 

One of the things I did last year, that I'm excited to do again, is Project Echo. A business plan competition for high school students, Project Echo introduces young people to every step of the process of creating a viable business. Each student team is assigned a group of MBA mentors. We advise them on how to build their business plan and help them prepare for the final competition, when each team presents their plan to a panel of judges from the community. 

Last year I had the opportunity to review many of the student business plans, and to watch a number of student groups present their ideas. It was amazing to see how far the teams had come during the months of competition, from an unformed concept to a detailed, well-informed and realizable business plan. Many of the teams have already successfully put their ideas into practice!

When it came time to decide whether to sign up for Project Echo this year, I did hesitate. So much to do, etc. But ultimately I had to recognize that Project Echo gave back everything we put into it last year and more. Gaining early experience with business and entrepreneurship will be tremendously valuable for the participating students. Plus, it was a lot of fun.

So I signed up. In a few days my team will be meeting our new students, who already have a number of great ideas for their project. I can't wait!

-- Tara Egan

tara.egan.2012@anderson.ucla.edu

@UCLAMBA

Spring Quarter Resolutions

Today's the first day of our Spring quarter, and after a week of recruiting trips, vacations, and general relaxation, it feels good to be back at school. For a couple reasons, I'm more excited about this quarter than I've been about previous quarters. First off, for us 1st years 3rd quarter means having real freedom and choice in our class schedule. With only two core courses this quarter, there's plenty of room for electives, and it's empowering to start tailoring our educational paths to fit our interests and career choices. (I'm especially thrilled about Law & Management of Nonprofit Organizations with Professor Guerin- this sort of course is exactly why I wanted to come to business school.)

Fewer core courses also means my workload will be more interesting, and therefore more manageable, this quarter. For a humanities major like me, it was a huge transition to be back in school learning 4 different kinds of math all at once (accounting, finance, statistics & economics.) Fall quarter was hard. But now, with a foundation in these subjects and a better grasp on how to balance the conflicting priorities of academics, recruiting, clubs, and socializing, I feel ready to take advantage of all the opportunities here going forward.

To make sure I stay on track, I'm making some resolutions for the spring quarter. Most of them are boring and all about scheduling.  But one of them is to be a much better and more consistent blogger.  It can be tricky for us bloggers here- the events and activities that you readers would most like to hear about often end up taking a lot of our free time and energy, making it hard to find a free moment to spare to describe recruiting, final exams, etc.  But whenever I can find a couple spare minutes I will try to share a little bit about my experiences in the run up to the end of my first year here at Anderson.

Welcome back everyone!

 

- Tara